Edgar Beach wrote:
> There are often very interesting discussions on this list about the
> value of atonal music such as ones "Blind Test" thread. I, personally,
> have never learned to appreciate the music of composers like Schoneberg
> and Webern. ...
"Most people seem to resent the controversial in music;
they don't want their listening habits disturbed, They use
music as a couch; they want to be pillowed on it, relaxed
and consoled for the stress of daily living. But serious
music was never meant to be used as a soporific, Contemporary
music, especially, is created to wake you up, not to put
you to sleep. It is meant to stir and excite you, to move
you - it may even exhaust you. But isn't that the kind of
stimulation you go to the theater for or read a book for?
Why make an exception for music?"
Aaron Copland, What to Listen for in Music.
Although I do find some atonal pieces beautiful - oddly, I was at a
concert listening to Webern's Symphony Op.21 just last week and reflecting
how beautiful I found it - others are not. But why should all music be
beautiful?
Deryk Barker <[log in to unmask]>
***********************************************
The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R)
list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability
Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information,
go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html